Author: Jane

Before this Sundays Emmys, Lily and I spent the week in Michigan with activists working to advance the One Fair Wage Campaign. I hope you will take the time to learn more about our efforts by visiting the website www.onefairwage.com Here are articles and video from a great week: FOX 2 DETROIT: http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/fox-2s-one-on-one-with-jane-fonda-lily-tomlin-on-minimum-wage FOX 2’s one-on-one with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin on minimum wage A pair of legendary Hollywood actresses visiting Michigan this week to promote a ballot proposal that would change Michigan’s minimum wage system. THE WOMENS MEDIA CENTER: http://www.womensmediacenter.com/news-features/jane-fonda-and-lily-tomlin-call-out-subpar-wages-for-women-workers Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin call out subpar wages for women workers Fast food workers put a national movement called the Fight for $15 on the map in November 2012 when they walked out of chain restaurants across New York City to …

I traveled to this years Venice Film festival, where Bob Redford and I were being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. We also had the premiere screening of our new Netflix Film “Our Souls At Night”. I decided to pad some extra days onto the trip to spend some additional time in Venice, and visit Florence. I arrived in Venice just in time to see Alexander Paynes film “Downsizing” which opened the festival. Here I am arriving with my son Troy Garity. The film was so powerful, and moving, but also funny, and deep. Alexander co wrote and directed, and I think he’s brilliant. One of the must see’s in town was the new Damien Hirst exhibit, “Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable”, at the Palazzo Grassi. Here is the stunning piece that greets all upon arrival. Next was a trip to see the small fishing town of Burano, known for its lace and hand blown glass. All the buildings are brightly painted. Burano is also home to the delicious restaurant Trattoria da Romano, where besides a great lunch, I enjoyed the worlds best Tiramisu. My manager Stephanie Simon, to my left, her husband Jason Newman, Troy and Simone. We had a blast. The Trattoria has been operated by the Barbaro family for over 100 years! Check out their kitchen! Hard to believe I hadn’t been to Venice or Florence in 50 years! Here I am at the festival in 1967. And here I am arriving with Bob for our press junket in 2017. Later, in a water taxi, en route to the award event and screening (left to right: Hairstylist Jonathan Hanousek, Makeup Artist David De Leon, Simone Bent, Stephanie Simon, Troy Garity, Stylist Tanya Gill, and Me) Arriving on the red carpet with Troy. On the red carpet with Bob. Receiving the film festival’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement together with Bob was one of the best moments of my life. It’s something I never thought would happen and to have it happen with him makes it more special than the world’s best Tiramisu. Click on the photo to play the video. Backstage after the Screening with my friend Nicoletta Billi. A close up with the Golden Lion Award. Photo from the Grand Canal, those hands you see, rising out of the water, are an installation for the 2017 Venice Bienale, from the artist Lorenzo Quinn titled “Support”. https://www.lorenzoquinn.com/ Another photo from the Grand Canal, this time looking at the famous Realto Bridge, which we did walk over the following day. The great thing about Venice is it never changes, as though its only reason for existence is to provide beauty and that it does, in spades. To have my son Troy and daughter in law Simone with me in Venice and then in Florence was divine. They’re easy travelers and know how to have fun.

I started to write a blog about my grandson’s beautiful high school graduation from The Putney School in Vermont; another about seeing “The Doll’s House II” with journalist Laura Flanders (it was fantastic); several blogs about the 4th season of “Grace & Frankie” and about the new movie I will start in August, “The Book Club” with Diane Keaton, Candy Bergen and Mary Steenburgen. I didn’t do any of it because it all felt too normal, even picayune. Personally, I don’t feel normal at all. How can I write any of the daily comings and goings of my life when the foundations of our Democracy are being challenged? It’s no longer a fear of what the future holds. The future is now and we are smack dab in the midst of what it looks and feels like to have an oligarchic, greedy, misogynistic, lying, bought-off, bullying administration. Piece by piece, everything that we’ve achieved in my almost- 80-years that is humane, caring, earth-friendly, decent and fair is being dismantled under our noses. Before we began shooting season 4 of G&F almost 4 months ago I was speaking at rallies, and raising money for the movements I think can make a difference. Now, because of work, I can’t do that because there’s no time and while that hurts, I’m grateful for the work on this wonderful series that clearly means so much to so many people of all ages and genders. (SPOILER ALERT!! Season 4 is shaping up to be really fun and funny). Saturday night I watched “All the Presidents Men Revisited” on MSNBC. It was a perfect way to remember (or learn, for those who didn’t live through it) the process that brought Nixon down. At the time, it also felt as if our Democracy was being threatened. But looking back, that 3rd rate burglary and the brief snippet of tape that exposed Nixon’s cover up seem like small potatoes next to what we’re facing today: The Russians successfully hacking into our electoral process on a level that appears to have been potentially more damaging to this country than many realize; what appears to be deep financial relationships between members of this administration and unfriendly foreign countries including massive debts owed to those countries by the President, the potential for blackmail of the President, money laundering, pay offs…it’s jaw-dropping, degrading and so worrisome that many think it’s fake news. But here’s the important lesson that was brought out at the end of “All the Presidents Men Revisited”: Nixon would have gotten away with his reckless abuse of power, and lying to the American people if not for brave journalism, persistent public pressure, and a refusal by Americans on both sides of the aisle to normalize the Presidents misdeeds. The American public spoke out, acted out, and DEMANDED that he not be let off the hook! That’s the lesson we need to embrace today. Without violence, without demonizing those who don’t agree, in the name of Democracy, we must do all that we can to make sure the truth comes out, that “they” don’t get away with it. We must also do what we can to protect women’s health by helping Planned Parenthood keep their clinics open and we must refuse Trumpcare. Write, call, Text, speak out and make your elected officials know you demand they not allow this to happen. Support every local effort you can find that is moving ahead with the goals of the Paris Climate Summit. More and more drilling, extractions, pipelines, leaks, are happening across the country. When filming is done, I plan on going to as many sites as I can, here and in Canada, to protest. In the meantime: READ “No is Not Enough” – by Naomi Klein, for what to do now. “Strangers In Their Own Land” – by Arlie Russell Hochschild, to understand and empathize with those who appear to vote against their own interests. We must reach out beyond our bubbles and get to know and care about the people who are suffering, hurt, angry and abandoned. They are part of the fabric of our country and we must heal together if we to survive in any meaningful way. GET INVOLVED Get to know your local officials to determine if they are truly representing your interests and, if not, get them replaced. ESCAPE WITH A GOOD FILM OR TV SHOW Because it’s the time when members of the TV Academy vote for the EMMYS, I have been watching everything. I just discovered an amazing series, “Better Things” on FX created by Pamela Adlon and Lewis CK and starring Pam Adlon. Check it out. Also, I am riveted by “Genius,” the National Geographic limited series about Einstein. It’s wonderful filming and all the actors are extraordinary. “Feud” and “Big Little Lies” are also terrific. I want to apologize for not blogging more regularly. I promise to do my best while making sure things don’t appear normal. They’re not. We are facing an existential crisis unlike any we have faced before. Let’s show the world we won’t take it sitting down.

This Saturday will mark Trumps 100th day in office.  In cities all across America, and in fact all over the world we will gather, we will speak, and we will rally at The Peoples Climate March.  We will mark this 100th day by showing that we continue to resist an agenda that disrespects and attacks our planet and our people The Peoples Climate March will mark the 100th day of the Resistance.  I will be joining a march in Wilmington California which is close to the Los Angeles Harbor. Wilmington was chosen because it’s the home of the Tesoro Oil Refinery. I should note that the Tesoro Oil Refinery is the largest single source of greenhouse gases in California. Trains (and it looks like there will soon be pipe lines because of Trump) will bring crude oil from North Dakota, the very oil that Water Protectors at Standing Rock have been trying to keep in the ground, to this refinery. And, the especially dangerous and damaging tar sands oil is intended to come from Alberta, Canada to the refinery as well via the Key Stone XL pipeline that we managed to stop under President Obama, but which Trump has now ordered be put in the works. The expansion of the Tesoro refinery and the movement of these dangerous oils runs counter to California’s goal of reducing greenhouse gases. Here is event information for the Southern California march: WHO:  Those who wish to Resist, and Protect WHAT:  Peoples Climate March, Southern California WHEN: 11AM – 4PM WHERE:  Banning Park & Recreation Center:  1331 Eubank Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90744 TRANSPORTATION INFO:  https://losangeles.peoplesclimate.org/transportation/ At 11AM we will gather first at Banning Park where I and others will be speaking then we will march at 12:30 to the Tesoro refinery. It should also be mentioned, that 90% of the people who live in and around the refinery are people of color, and of modest means.  Many are being made sick by the fumes from the refinery.  The proposed expansion of the refinery will create the largest refinery on the West Coast, in an area that already suffers the worst air quality in the Untied States. Please join us in Southern California, and if you live elsewhere, find a sister march at this link: https://peoplesclimate.org/sister-marches/ The only good things that have happened since the November election have happened because large numbers of people have become resistors, I have stood up and manifested their anger and determination to save our environment and protect our democracy. Complete Peoples Climate March website and Information:   https://peoplesclimate.org/

Tom died last October surrounded by people who loved him. For the last 4 months, Tom’s widow Barbara Williams, Troy Garity, my son with Tom, and I have been working together to create a memorial that honored and celebrated Tom’s 6 decades of commitment to peace, justice and democracy.  In the course of preparing the memorial, I reread many of his books and speeches, watched films, news footage and interviews of Tom that Troy and Barbara assembled and read letters that friends and colleagues of his were sending in about the impact Tom had on their lives. And I was able to see with even more clarity than when he and I were together what an extraordinary life of dedication he lived and what a lasting impact he had on countless lives.  From a working class family in Royal Oak, Michigan, a student and alter boy in the arch conservative Father Coughlin’s Temple of the Little Flower, Tom became editor of the prestigious Michigan Daily and, after reporting on the new Free Speech Movement in Berkeley in the early 60’s, the civil rights bus boycotts and sit ins in the South, he stepped out from behind his notepad and became an organizer and builder of movements. He was able to whisper to me the day before he died that seeing people willing to die for their beliefs changed him forever. And it was ‘forever.’ He never stopped trying to make Democracy a reality. We held the memorial at UCLA’s Royce Hall on Sunday February 19. People came from all over the country who had been in the trenches with Tom, some from the very beginning. There were people who were part of creating the seminal Port Huron Statement on which Tom was the lead writer and editor— the document that laid out in beautiful, even soulful, language an entirely new vision of what a Democratic society would look like. It was a profound departure from the doctrinaire, ideological view of the “old Left” and it brought hope and inspiration to a new generation of young activists who came together as SDS: Students for a Democratic Society. To illustrate the cultural impact that the Port Huron Statement had, we were able to get clips from “Mad Men” and the film, “The Big Lebowski” in which characters talked about the document and how “cool” it was.  Two of the Chicago 7 defendants, Rennie Davis and John Froines, were at the memorial.  Troy, Barbara and I had the speakers arranged in chronological order so that one could see the entire sweep of Tom’s life as an organizer/strategist/movement builder/writer/journalist/State Senator.  Troy, edited a wonderful opening video called “Who the Hell is Tom Hayden?” and then started everything off with an emotional, funny and welcoming speech that really set the perfect tone.  A beautifully emotional Alfre Woodard read from Tom’s memoir, Ed Begley spoke about Tom’s commitment to the environment and how it changed his life, ending by saying that he named his daughter Hayden in Tom’s honor.  Bobby Kennedy Jr spoke about Tom’s Irishness and why the Kennedy family asked Tom to be one of the pall bearers at Robert Kennedy’s funeral. Kevin DeLeon, President Pro Tem of the California Senate, talked about what Tom accomplished as a member of the state legislature for 14 years when term limits forced his retirement. Delores Huerta spoke. Bonnie Raitt, a longtime friend and supporter of Tom’s, sang “Change is Gonna Come.”  Two of the most moving speeches were made by Alex Sanchez and DeWayne Holmes. Both former gang members who evolved into becoming successful peace activists. DeWayne, born in Watts, and Alex who as a child immigrated from El Salvador to escape the bloody civil war that ravaged his mother county. Both spoke of how Tom had believed in them despite their troubled pasts. Tom had been able to see “ past their tattoos to who they really were” and made it possible for them to completely turn their lives around. He hired them to work on his Senate staff, and even traveled with them to El Salvador to witness the gang violence that forces so many young people to seek refuge in the US. I was far from the only one in tears as I heard them speak about Tom. For years Tom worked tirelessly to stop the gang wars, helping support Homies Unidos and other efforts which allowed young men and women to leave the gang life and become community leaders. This is what is needed instead of walls. I will summarize some of what I said at the memorial because I think it speaks to what needs to happen today in this country: I spoke of my 17 years with Tom which began in 1972 when the peace movement was flagging after years of repression and sectarian divisiveness. Tom knew that the recent release of the Pentagon Papers had changed the national landscape and that it was time to pull back from radical action and take the anti war message right into the heart of middle America.  I didn’t realize at the time what a brave and controversial departure that was for the Peace Movement and how much heat Tom took from the left for adopting this educational, grassroots strategy with it’s congressional focus. As I said in my speech, “… let’s think about that strategy for today.” It was called the Indochina Peace Campaign, IPC. Together with singer Holly Near, POWs Bob Chenowith and George Smith and others, the IPC tour began at the Ohio State Fair and traveled to 100 cities in 3 months during the fall of 1972. Our message was that Nixon was lying about ending the war. Yes, our ground troops were coming home but the air war was being escalated unbeknownst to most Americans and, in the south, our allies were imprisoning, torturing and corrupting Vietnamese civilians in our name. We delivered our message— demand that Congress cut aid to our puppet regime in Saigon—in union halls, churches, editorial boards, on campuses, to crowds of sometimes 10,000 people. We distributed over a million pieces of educational literature. I got pregnant during the tour in a motor home en route to Buffalo, NY. That was part of our shared commitment to the future. What a soaring speaker Tom was. He had a non-rhetorical way of putting big new ideas together so that people saw themselves in the narrative. I would watch the audience hanging on his words as he broke their hearts open and then filled them with hope and new understanding. The Watergate scandal and the unraveling of the presidency gave decisive new leverage to Tom’s Congressional strategy and in the fall of ’73 the IPC tour went out again with the same team plus 3-month-old Troy who slept in dresser drawers along the way. The strategy worked. Congress to Cut Aid to Thieu.   With the war over, Tom could see that the Watergate scandal had created cracks in the walls of the establishment and that now was the time for progressives to squeeze through those cracks and run for office. You see, Tom wanted to win. He understood that progressives had to be prepared to take power and learn to govern, not just protest…something else we would do well to think about for today.    I was with Tom when he visited Cesar Chavez to ask whether he should run for the U.S. Senate. Cesar thought for a few moments and then said, “It only makes sense if you build a movement out of your campaign structure when it’s over.” And that became CED: The California Campaign for Economic Democracy that got scores of progressives elected to state and local offices and many measures passed like Prop 65.  Again, don’t we need CEDs today—-in every state? Along with her son with Tom, Liam Hayden, Barbara ended the program by performing her song, “Push That Rock”.   In 2015 Tom wrote:  “My wife Barbara Williams has added a new meaning to the Albert Camus story of Sisyphus, who was condemned to push the rock back up the hill eternally. In her version, in pushing the rock we become stronger, not weaker. The chant “Push that rock” is realism for radicals and reformers today.”  Following Barbaras song, members of the First AME Choir  Tom Morello, Holly Near, Bonnie Raitt and James McVay and myself joined Barbara on stage for a rendition of Aint Gonna Let Nobody Turn me Around, appropriately ending the memorial with everyone on their feet and singing along. Kristy Edmunds, Director of UCLA’s Royce Hall, wrote this to me after the memorial. It captures what so many felt: “I learned so much more about the efforts and events that have shaped and changed the directions of so many than I was conscious of—including those that have influenced and made possible my own course—I was awakened to such gratitude, and I found myself gaining inspiration and an inner charge to press forward with even more boldness. Yes, I can do more! And I will.” I know that we all came away with a renewed commitment to making Tom’s vision of a true Democracy into a reality. Seize the time!

We, people of faith and moral conscience, reclaim Valentine’s Day as a Day of Revolutionary Love, Day of Rising. We resist all executive orders and policies that put people in harm’s way. We commit to fight for social justice through the ethic of love — love for others, our opponents, and ourselves. On Valentine’s Day, we will rise up across the U.S. and around the world in music, poetry, dance and engage Congress to declare that #RevolutionaryLove is the call of our times. Sign the Declaration We claim February 14th as a Day of Revolutionary Love, Day of Rising. We declare our love for all who are in harm’s way, including refugees, immigrants, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, LGBTQI people, Black people, Latinos, the indigenous, the disabled, and the poor. We stand with millions of people around the globe rising up to end violence against women and girls (cis, transgender and gender non-conforming) who are often the most vulnerable within marginalized communities. We vow to see one another as brothers and sisters and fight for a world where every person can flourish. We declare love even for our opponents. We vow to oppose all executive orders and policies that threaten the rights and dignity of any person. We call upon our elected officials to join us, and we are prepared to engage in moral resistance throughout this administration. We will fight not with violence or vitriol, but by challenging the cultures and institutions that promote hate. In so doing, we will challenge our opponents through the ethic of love. We declare love for ourselves. We will practice the dignity and care in our homes that we want for all of us. We will protect our capacity for joy. We will nurture our bodies and spirits; we will rise and dance. We will honor our mothers and ancestors whose bodies, breath, and blood call us to a life of courage. In their name, we choose to see this darkness not as the darkness of the tomb – but of the womb. We will breathe and push through the pain of this era to birth a new future. Click Here To Sign what to do on v-day 1. CALL CONGRESS WITH LOVE Call 1-855-408-2357 and we will connect you to your representative to ask them to fight for justice with love. Sample script: “My name is ____, and I’m calling to ask my Senator to oppose the President’s executive orders that harm [refugees, immigrants, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, LGTBQI people, Black people, Latinos, women and girls, the indigenous, and/or all people in harm’s way]. Today is Valentine’s Day. I believe that love for our country requires us to love and protect one another. I ask the Senator to [keep fighting OR take a stand] and join millions of us who are committed to moral resistance throughout this administration. Thank you.” 2. SHOW UP WITH 1 BILLION RISING Rise up with music, art, poetry, and dance! On Valentine’s Day, women and men throughout the US and in 200 countries worldwide will come together and RISE to end violence against all women and girls (cis, transgender and gender non-conforming) as part of V-Day’s massive annual One Billion Rising campaign. In NYC, join us in Washington Square Park for an Artistic Uprising & Call for Revolutionary Love. Together we will stand in solidarity and declare our moral resistance grounded in love. Click here to find an event near you or create your own as part of #1BillionRising. 3. POST A LOVE NOTE Post “#RevolutionaryLove is… ” and fill in the blank with an idea, story or photo that shows what love means to you. Got some paper handy? Write a love letter or make a Valentine. Cut out a heart from a piece of paper, write your note, and post a picture. Use hashtags #RevolutionaryLove #WomensMarch #LoveArmy to be retweeted! Samples: Love Note to Others: “I vow to fight for [refugees, immigrants, Muslims, Sikhs, LGTBQI people, Black people, Latinos, Jewish people, women and girls, the indigenous, or all people in harm’s way] by [speaking even when my voice trembles; protesting, marching, organizing, going on strike, calling Congress once a day, etc] throughout this administration. #RevolutionaryLove” Love Note to Our Opponents: “I will resist every dangerous govt policy thru the ethic of love by [refusing to mirror the fear and hate of the other side, fighting systemic injustice not just individuals, standing up in solidarity, etc.].” #RevolutionaryLove” Love Note to Ourselves: “I will care for my own body, spirit & relationships by [protecting joy each day, dancing, eating, sleeping 8 hours, making art, building community, remembering art and nature and beauty] even as I rise up in moral resistance. #RevolutionaryLove” About Millions of us marched. Thousands of us rallied at airports, held vigils, called Congress, supported legal action, and flooded social media with our voices to protest the executive orders. Together we helped win a restraining order against the Muslim and refugee bans. This is a moral victory, but the fight continues. Will we burn out? If we let fatigue or despair overcome us, then yes, our resistance will fizzle. Worse, we will start to mirror the same kinds of fear and rage that we are resisting. But if we ground our moral resistance in the ethic of love, then we will be able to sustain our movement in the months and years ahead. Why Revolutionary Love Love has been captured by Hallmark cards, sidelined as purely personal and romantic — far too fickle and sentimental to be a political force. But throughout history, prophetic leaders from Gandhi to King built social movements rooted in love. They understood that love is an inexhaustible wellspring that can inspire and embolden us to rise up with courage we did not know we had. We are a coalition of faith and moral leaders, public voices, and organizations rising up to reclaim love as a public ethic and a way to fight for justice. “Love is not just a feeling but an action. Love is the commitment to extend our will for the flourishing of others, opponents, and ourselves. When we love even in the face of fear and rage, we can transform a relationship, a culture, and a country. Love becomes revolutionary. The way we make change is just as important as the change we make. In this dangerous new era, Revolutionary Love is the call of our times.” — Valarie Kaur, Sikh American civil rights activist. Watch the 6 min video calling for Revolutionary Love. The Call of Our Times The President has signed a cascade of executive orders that threaten the safety and lives of hundreds of thousands of people – refugees, immigrants, Muslims, the indigenous, Black people, and all working people in need of healthcare. He closed our borders to all refugees and also immigrants from seven primarily Muslim countries — a de facto Muslim ban. He has directed our government to construct a wall on our southern border, punish sanctuary cities, facilitate the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and construct pipelines across the sacred lands of indigenous people. He has escalated a rape culture and threatened the rights of women on every front. And he has signaled there is more to come, including curtailing LGBTQI rights and rolling back voting rights. In order to change a culture of normalization that makes these policies possible, we as people of faith and moral conscience rise up in an army of moral resistance rooted in love. #RevolutionaryLove #LoveArmy #1BillionRising #MoralResistance Signatories Also… Andre C. Willis, Carolyn Dixon, Clinton Wright, Deepa Iyer, dream hampton, Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa, Emily Welty, Erin Ruble, Gurwin Singh Ahuja, Janet M. Cooper Nelson, Joanna Samuels,Joanne Welter Jonah Geffen, Jonathan Frank B. Diaz, Jonathan Slater, Josh Buchin, Joshua Lesser, Joy Friedman, Julie Roth, Juval Porat, Katherine Wilson, Khadija Gurnah, Marjorie Berman, Megan GoldMarche, Nitika Chopra, Pastor Scott Hill, Rabbi Allen Secher, Rabbi Amy Eilberg, Rabbi Annie Lewis, Rabbi David Paskin, Rabbi Heather Miller, Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater, Rabbi Laura Owens, Rabbi Marc Kline, Rabbi Marci Bellows, Rabbi Mark Borovitz, Rabbi Paula Marcus, Rabbi Raquel Kosovske, Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub, Rabbi Stan Levy, Rabbi Susan Talve, Rabbi Suzanne Singer, Rebecca Kislak, Rev. Dr. Jo Hudson, Rev. Dr. Kevin Downer, Scott Hartman, MD, Senior Rabbi Lisa Edwards, Sharon Groves, Sharon Stanley-Rea, Shifra Bronznick, Tara Hyun Kyung Chung, The Rev. Christian Scharen, Ph.D, Tricia Rose, William Chiang Partners more info: http://www.revolutionarylove.net